


3 Times Merlin Visited Ealdor +1 Time Arthur Joined Him

by Remarcely



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Camelot, Deviates From Canon, Ealdor, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Merthur - Freeform, Minor Character Death, My First AO3 Post, My First Work in This Fandom, No Beta, No Smut, Powerful Merlin, Strong Merlin, Timeline What Timeline, and one time arthur joins him, dw i'm not gonna kill arthur, it is 3AM why am i writing fanfiction, no beta we die like freya, three times merlin goes home, writing as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:29:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29682615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Remarcely/pseuds/Remarcely
Summary: -~-~-~- 3 Times Merlin Visited Ealdor +1 Time Arthur Joined Him -~-~-~-Merlin, Arthur noted, never once spoke about Ealdor. Of course, when asked, he would happily ramble about his dear mother, but when it came to the topic of his village, he would stay oddly quiet. It was almost like, to Merlin, it did not exist at all.But after a strange boy a year younger than Merlin showed up, grinning like a mad man and sporting a bruised eye, the small village was forced into conversation.
Relationships: Gwaine & Merlin (Merlin), Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Hunith & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin & Will (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 89





	1. The Raiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Will shows up at Camelot sporting a bruised eye, Merlin must return to his home village to defend them from raiders.

Merlin, Arthur noted, never once spoke about Ealdor. Of course, when asked, he would happily ramble about his dear mother, but when it came to the topic of his village, he would stay oddly quiet. It was almost like, to Merlin, it did not exist at all.

But after a strange boy a year younger than Merlin showed up, grinning like a mad man and sporting a bruised eye, the small village was forced into conversation.

The afternoon of the strangers arrival, Merlin knocked on Arthur's chambers, something he had never done before. He had entered, his face white as a sheet and sickeningly serious, to ask Arthur for time off in order to visit his home. It turned out, it'd been trapped under the thumb of a group of raiders and they were unlikely to have enough food to survive if they continued to take their harvest. To make things worse, if Will- his friend that had visited- was to be believed, they were sent on Cenred's orders.

Without a second thought, Arthur agreed. He had half the mind to join his manservant (a strange idea, seeing as Merlin had not been employed under him for long) but Merlin had shaken his head at the proposition. Ealdor was in Cenred's land and, if a prince of Camelot were to use force to defend it, the King may see it as an act of war.

Merlin had left the bedchambers, leaving Arthur to grow overwhelmed by a settling fear for his servant. It had gone unspoken, but Merlin's parting words were more than a simple goodbye. They both knew there was a chance he would not return.

The next morning, Arthur tried to send someone, anyone, after him to help, but it appeared Merlin had left in the night and covered his tracks well.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The raiders flew backwards at Merlin's hand, his eyes glowering in a golden hue. He hadn't allowed them to reach Ealdor, catching them in the forest on his journey there. Will had run ahead, though not after complaining about his role, to tell the villagers to defend themselves, just in case. 

One soldier had, indeed, slipped past Merlin but when he was rounded on by a herd of pissed off farmers, armed with pitchforks and stubbornness, they had decided it was wiser to flee. His friends, well, they had not been so lucky.

Merlin had not intended to kill them. He had tried to frighten them off at first, but at the sight of a powerful sorcerer, they had changed their mission from stealing the harvest to capturing him to drag back to Cenred. Merlin had been ready, raised on stories from his mother about the vanishing magic users that were drafted into the tyrants armies.

The first hit his head against a large rock when falling back. Somehow, Merlin knew he was dead by the time his body fully hit the ground, he could feel it. In his distracted horror, one of them men had landed a hit against his side and crack one of his ribs.

Stumbling back, Merlin sent the other flying too, right into a fast-flowing river. Their ridiculously weighted armour had dragged them down, their frantic arms doing nothing against the waters violent pull.

After that, the warlock wasn't sure what'd happened. Dazed by the pain, his mind became blurry and sent out his magic against the blurry raiders. All he knew was, when all was done, Will had found him half conscious surrounded by the dead. 

He was half carried to Ealdor, wincing when Will tugged a little to hard and pain shot through his chest. His friend must have taken him to his mother, because he awoke on the floor where he rested as a young boy, bandaged and being spoon fed a far too salty broth.

As Hunith spoke in hushed whispers with Will, demanding to know what had happened, Merlin gingerly raised a hand above the bruised rib. He breathed out a few shaky words and his eyes glowed gold once more, though with far less fury than earlier.

Some of the pain subsided and breathing became a lot easier, but it was another day before Merlin managed to sit up and feed himself.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Irritated by George, Arthur soon found himself antsy for Merlin's return- which of course led to him agonising if his friend ever would. King Cenred's cruelty fell not too far short of Uther's, his men would not have gone easy on a simple servant boy with far too much confidence and a loose tongue.

So, it was an understatement to say he was overjoyed when Leon told him of his sighting of Merlin in the lower city. Once he was free of his training and dinner with his father and Morgana, he headed straight for Gaius's chambers.

He strode through the door, pushing it open a little too strongly, and faltered in his step when he saw Merlin, sat on the table with Gaius wrapping fresh bandages around his chest.

"What on earth-" Arthur scowled, ignoring Merlin's panicked and most definitely false excuses "What happened?"

When Merlin went to lie once more, his words were replaced with a hiss as Gaius tightened the bandages "I-It's nothing, really, I'm fine," He tried for a weak smile, returning to the joking mood Arthur had so sorely missed "You should see the other guy."

"How is your village?" He knew Merlin was no fighter, so if a weak stick-armed moron such as Merlin was needing treatment, he could only imagine how the stronger villagers had been left.

"They're okay," Merlin tugged his shirt back over his head "A couple of travellers happened to pass by and fend the raiders off. A few people are still healing, and food will be sparse for the coming winter, but they're safe."

A small sigh of relief passed through Arthur's lips, but it was quiet enough that neither physician nor servant heard "Good. Rest tomorrow, and don't do anything more stupid than usual," He managed a smirk "Don't think this means your allowed to slack off, idiot."

"Prat."


	2. The Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin receives a letter from his mother, calling him home for the funeral for his childhood friend, Will.

In his first year of Camelot, Merlin received all of two letters. The first was from Gwen while she was away with her father and brother. She could write well enough, Morgana had been secretly teaching her, though the inky letters were a little messy. It was kind, bringing a smile to Merlin's eyes for the rest of the day, and there had been a small sprig of lavender tucked inside that he had kept on his bedside.

The second did not hold the same sentiment. Merlin's hands had begun to shake after the first few words, and the corner was still stained with a few tears which has smudged his mothers name.

Will had died. Not too long after their victory against the raiders, he had been drafted into Cenred's army. He'd mostly been posted around the kingdom, keeping watch, but after an argument with a cruel higher up, he'd been sent to the front lines. He was killed the first day there, in the middle of the night as he slept, by an ambush attack.

Now, Merlin was expected home for the funeral.

Once he'd composed himself, wiping his eyes dry, he had found himself leaving the physicians chambers and entering Arthur's. The Pendragon was at his desk, trying and failing to write a speech, and had been two minutes from pestering Merlin into doing it for him.

The words had died in his throat, however, as he caught sight of his servants red eyes and trembling hands.

"Sire," Merlin using any type of proper title was yet another bad sign "I- uh- need a few days off."

Arthur rose from his desk and rushed to his friend "What's wrong? What has happened?"

Merlin held up his hand, which still clutched the letter, and took a shaky breath "My friend, Will, he... he's dead. His funeral is in two days, not that we even have anything to bury, it's more for his mother than anything-" He started to ramble, his eyes darting back and forth, unfocussed and unaware of anything in the room.

He was cut off by Arthur, who had pulled him into a hug, wrapping his arms around his shoulders, and moved a hand to hold the back of his friends head. Merlin fell silent, reaching up to cling to the back of Arthur's shirt, and felt the paper scrunch up in his grip.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Merlin had been given a horse for his journey. Well, horse was a strong word, old Heather was a tired and grey looking mule. Still, the sentiment was there and she had been all Arthur could muster under his fathers watch.

Before leaving Camelot's walls, Gwen had caught him in his second hug of the day. She didn't say much, instead pushed a wrapped slice of pie swiped from the kitchens into his hands and kissed his cheek. Merlin felt her gaze follow him as he slowly began his journey.

Once the kingdom was out of sight, Merlin walked alongside the mule, unable to sit still, and burst into tears. When he came to a stop, he felt Heather nudge his arm and allowed him to stroke her mane back. As his tears began to lessen and his hiccups faded, he reached into the saddle bag and fed her an apple before the two continued their walk.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

He ignored the stares and disgusted glares from the other villagers as he tied the end of Heathers reins to a fence post. Merlin patted her head comfortingly and took his bag, heading towards his old home.

Hunith was inside, at the table sewing a tear in her best dress. Her head shot up as he entered, flying from the bench to embrace her child "Merlin," Her voice was hoarse, likely from crying. When Will's father had died, she'd taken care of him while his mother barely stayed afloat. He'd become a secondary son to her, family in all but blood "I'm so sorry."

"Me too, mum."

They talked, sharing stories of Will getting into trouble and causing a ruckus for the rest of the village, until the sun began to dip below the horizon. Merlin left for his mother to get properly dressed, venturing back to visit Heather with a bucket of water for her to drink.

Seconds after it was sat down, Merlin felt people drawing closer behind him. He turned, stumbling back when he realised how close his old bullies had gotten.

Jonathan, the eldest of the three, sneered at him "You have some fucking nerve showing up here, changeling."

Merlin sighed and did his best to keep his anger under check "I was Will's friend, I owe it to him to say goodbye just as much as anyone else here."

He went to tend to the mare again, a stupid mistake, and was immediately spun around to find a fist heading straight for his face . He tripped over his feet and fell to the ground, landing on his behind and bumped into the bucket, tipping it over.

Before he could pull himself together, he was kicked in the chest, the worn leather boots surely leaving what would become an eyesore of a bruise.

"We know what you are, bastard," One of the other boys, Merlin wasn't sure who, spat at him "Go on then, curse us."

It was getting harder to supress his magic. It was boiling under his skin, itching to get out, and it took everything he had not to give in. He had promised himself long ago he would never use it against the villagers, no matter how much they sometimes deserved it.

Riled up by Merlin's refusal to give them more than a glare in reaction, they stalked off, leaving him to pick up the bucket and stumble back to the well.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The funeral was short. For the moments they gathered together, the entire village put down their rakes and tools to stand around the stone carved to bare Will's name. His mother fell to her knees as someone shared a few words, a hand on her chest, weeping for her only son. Hunith moved forward through the crowd, the people stepping away quickly from her as if she carried a plague, and helped the woman to her feet.

Merlin simply watched from afar. While his mother was not liked by the people of Ealdor, they begrudgingly respected her and would keep their harsh words to whispers as she passed by. He, on the other hand, did not have to wonder if his presence was welcome at the funeral, the mutterings and glares speaking volumes.

He waited for the people to disperse, returning to their chores, and for Hunith to pass with Will's mother in her arms. Merlin shared a short look with her as she wiped at her tears, their eyes locking for a second, and he gave a short nod which she returned.

After his path was clear, he approached the stone. It was short and uneven, the carved letters jagged and rough, but he knew it was worth more to Will's mother than anything that could be bought. His fingers reached out, brushing over his friends name, and traced the words.

Abruptly, he rose to his feet and half-ran from the village into the nearby woods. He raced down the path he and Will had made when they were little. For a brief moment, he felt him by his side, the ghost of a memory long passed sprinting with him in glee, a stick in hand that was waved around like the most fearsome of swords.

Merlin stopped in the clearing, at the edge of the water, and looked down at his rippling reflection. He hadn't been there, he could've stopped Will from being taken even if his hands were tied behind his back. Or if he hadn't let that raider escape the year before, allowing him to carry word back to Cenred of Ealdor's defiance. His powers slammed against his insides, blood rushing in his ears and his breathing spiralling out of control.

He screamed. Without a sound, not so much as a whimper, yet that didn't stop the air from rolling back in waves as his magic was finally released. The trees swayed with a groaning creak and the water was pushed from the pond, before slowly trickling back in. The woods were quiet as it's birds faltered in their song and every living being within its borders stood still.

All silent in a brief minute as Merlin dropped to the ground and cried for his friend.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Merlin rode back to Camelot a day later than he had intended. He clutched his side the entire journey, grateful Gaius had insisted he take some sort of medical supplies as a precaution, and distracted himself from the pain with reminding himself of the chores that had no doubt been piling up in his absence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've sort of been writing two different stories at once, so when I'm burnt out from one, I work on the other. The other one is a lot longer, I'll probably start posting after this one's complete.
> 
> Chapter 5/3 is half written, just working on the ending, so it'll be up in a few days. This was a few hundred more words than the last, chapter 3 might be longer as well.
> 
> Also, have I figured out how to format the text, absolutely not, will i ignore the instructions on how to do so, absolutely I will.


	3. The Tavern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After staying in a Tavern on his trip back to Ealdor, Merlin stumbles into Gwaine, who decides to join him the next morning.

It is said, wherever there is a Tavern, there is a Gwaine. What this would usually mean for the average person, is rogue drunks with a taste for defending others in bar fights were not few and far between. For Merlin, it often meant Gwaine turning up out of the blue whenever he stepped close to an alehouse.

He had stopped by one on his journey back to Ealdor which, on foot, was tiring. To exhausted to bother pitching a camp, he'd asked for a room for the night in the nearest Tavern. That evening, he had been sat drinking while reading one of Gaius's old books on herbs when a hand had clapped down on his shoulder.

"Merlin!" A tipsy Gwaine grinned down at his friend and dropped onto the bench beside him "What are the chances?"

"With you? Pretty high," Merlin chuckled, set his drink down on the table and shut the book, tucking it back inside his jackets pocket "How are you?"

"Brilliant," He took a large swig from his own tankard of ale "Been all around the place, drinking all sorts. But what about you, I thought you'd be off with the princess somewhere? Is he here?"

"No," Merlin shook his head and put a hand on Gwaine's shoulder to steady him, worried the man was one second away from falling backwards onto the floor "I have the next two days off and thought to head home to visit my mother."

"Ah, good for you," Gwaine's words slurred together and pulled an arm around his friends shoulders "I bet she's a right looker, if you're anything to go by, Merls." His eyes began to droop.

As he reached for his drink, Merlin shot his hand and pushed it further from him "I think you've had enough. Come on, let's get you somewhere the ale isn't."

Ditching his own drink, Merlin helped Gwaine onto his feet and supported him up the stairs to the room he'd rented. He pushed the door open and dumped Gwaine onto the single bed, ignoring the mans chuckles at thin air.

Merlin kicked the door shut and moved to tug Gwaine's boots off, discarding them in the corner. He drew the blanket up over his friend, shoving him back when he tried to stand up, and told him to get some sleep. From his bag, he pulled his own blanket and settled on the floor. While it was a little uncomfortable, it was far better than the woods with twigs sticking in his back. 

Though, he had to say he would've preferred the birds gentle songs to Gwaine's.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The next morning, Gwaine joined Merlin on his venture home, having no other plans. He shared stories of his adventures the entire way, which Merlin suspected were getting more and more exaggerated as he went on, and eventually asked the servant about his home.

"Ealdor isn't much," Merlin shrugged and took Gwaine's hand, being helped over the fallen tree blocking the pathway "It's a farming village, so I wasn't much help to them. I never really put on any muscle. My mother sent me off to Camelot to train as a physician under my uncle, Gaius."

Sensing he wasn't eager to talk about his home, Gwaine changed the subject and the two passed in polite conversation until Merlin said he'd started to recognise the woods around them. Not long after, Ealdor was in sight, and Merlin led Gwaine towards his mothers home.

Hunith was peeling a pot full of potatoes, sat at the table, and it wasn't until Merlin knocked on the wall that she realised he was there. Her face lit up and she pulled her son into a hug, kissing his cheek.

"And who's this?" She asked, noticing Gwaine standing near the door, smiling at the reunion.

"Mother, this is Gwaine, a friend of mine."

"You look more lovely than I could've imagined, ma'am," Gwaine grinned and took Hunith's hand, kissing her knuckles "I can see where Merlin gets his looks from."

She playfully swatted him away and beckoned both of them further into the hut. Without a word of complaint, Gwaine helped both Merlin and his mother finish peeling the potatoes, recounting his stories with her to pass the time.

When Hunith began preparing food, she sent Merlin out to get water from the well and Gwaine offered to join him. He carried the bucket and slung an arm around Merlin's shoulder as the two walked through the small village, chatting away.

Merlin winced, stumbling, when a rock hit the back of his head. His hand flew up to feel where he'd been hit. Gwaine frowned and turned to see a group of three boys, sat on the fence, smirking at them with more stones in hand.

He stepped forward, about to give them a piece of his mind, but Merlin hurriedly grabbed part of his shirt and tugged him back "Please don't. I really don't want to be getting into a fight, my mother would kill me."

With a reluctant sigh, Gwaine settled with a cold glare at the boys and muttered a few colourful insults under his breath as they continued towards the well.

As Merlin dropped the bucket in the well, carefully lowering it further down by the rope tied around the handle, Gwaine sat cross-legged on the edge of the well. He poked Merlin in the shoulder, gently pushing him "Why do you let them bother you?" 

"They're just being idiots," He wrapped the rope around his hand as he hauled the bucket up "I've known them since I was young, they were always like that, though my friend Will used to be here to warn them off."

Gwaine paused, not remembering being introduced to a Will "What happened to him?"

"He died," Merlin paused and lifted the bucket to sit on the side of the well "Last year, after he was drafted into Cenred's army." 

For once, Gwaine's voice turned serious "I'm sorry."

"Thank you," He smiled sadly and picked at the knot around the handle "I was planning on visiting his grave while I'm here. Now his mother's passed, I doubt anyone's bothered to clean it."

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

"Not at all."

The two wandered towards the house, a comfortable silence settling between them.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Merlin brushed the dirt from the stone and snapped the ivy that had begun to crawl towards it. The lettering had been filled in with moss and soil, though was still discernible. The edges of the carvings had smoothed over with time. Merlin moved his fingers gently over them, tracing the words.

"What was he like?"

Gwaine pulled him from his thoughts. He was sat on a log behind the headstone, picking at the grass beneath him, watching Merlin intently.

"He was loud," Merlin snickered "If he didn't like someone, he'd make sure they knew it, saying exactly what he though to their face. My mum said when he was born, no one in the village slept for a week with all his screaming. I think that's why we got along so well, seeing as he did more than enough talking for the both of us."

"I think you'd have liked him," He continued "He didn't like royals either, especially after his father also died fighting for Cenred. When he came to see me in Camelot, he joked I'd betrayed him by working for Arthur."

"I reckon I would have liked him, like you said." Gwaine nodded and flicked the torn grass as Merlin.

He hummed in agreement "What are you going to do when I go back to Camelot?"

"I don't know. Your mothers cooking isn't half bad, is she taken?" He chuckled, throwing his arms up to protect himself as Merlin threw the torn grass back at him "I'll keep walking. There's supposed to be a town not too far from here where jobs are going around.

"Oh. Well, good luck."

"I don't suppose I could steal you from Arthur to come with?"

Merlin smiled and shook his head "Tempting, but no. The prat wont last another day without me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter is probably going to be a lot longer since there'll be more to it. Since I have a lot to do, it might be a few more days, but hopefully this will be completed in the next week.
> 
> Also, if you're here for the Merthur, get ready for the +1, because that'll sum up about 95% of it.
> 
> Thank you for the support you've shown to my work, it's been awesome to see :)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing this as I go but I do have a brief plan set out for the rest of the chapters. Hopefully, it'll be complete in a week or two, depends on how much I work on it instead of paying attention in my classes.
> 
> You should probably expect mistakes, inconsistent chapter length (though usually at the very least over 800 words) and sliiiightly OC versions of the characters.
> 
> Also when I say I haven't proof read this one bit, I really mean that and I doubt I'll reread to edit this later. I just want to start publishing my work on here instead of on Wattpad (yeah, I know, big yikes). I might post some of my older stuff, though that for sure would be getting a thorough edit.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, sorry if my grammar or horrific spelling put you off lol


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